(a) Subject to Section 912 and except as otherwise provided in this article, the client, whether or not a party, has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between client and lawyer referral service if the privilege is claimed by any of the following:
(1) The holder of the privilege.
(2) A person who is authorized to claim the privilege by the holder of the privilege.
(3) The lawyer referral service or a staff person thereof, but the lawyer referral service or a staff person thereof may not claim the privilege if there is no holder of the privilege in existence or if the lawyer referral service or a staff person thereof is otherwise instructed by a person authorized to permit disclosure.
(b) The relationship of lawyer referral service and client shall exist between a lawyer referral service, as defined in Section 965, and the persons to whom it renders services, as well as between such persons and anyone employed by the lawyer referral service to render services to such persons. The word “persons” as used in this subdivision includes partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, associations, and other groups and entities.
(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 123, Sec. 2. (AB 267) Effective January 1, 2014.)